Nascar and Racing Mark Martin

It's fair to say Mark Martin wasn't always a glass-half-full kinda guy.

Even a decade ago while piling up wins in the midst of four championship runner-up seasons as the lead driver for a more streamlined Jack Roush organization, Martin wasn't exactly effusive or happy-go-lucky. Even in victory circle he tended to analyze what went wrong instead of what went right.

Mr. Sunshine he was not.

BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) -- The most surprised person to find Mark Martin in Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway was the driver himself.

The 50-year-old NASCAR star has run well but has had to deal with considerable bad luck this season. It looked like more of the same Sunday when the battery in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet began to fail before the halfway mark in the LifeLock 400 Sprint Cup race.

Martin turned off everything in the car that he could, nursing it as best he could. Then he realized the race was going to be a fuel economy run.

Mark Martin was worried about taking an anti-inflammatory pill so the 50-year old veteran driver called up the head of NASCAR's new drug testing program to see if he could take an Advil without violating policy.

Greg Biffle was concerned enough about taking a simple over-the-counter pain medicine to help with an injury, he just opted to tough it out.

We still don't know what Sprint Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield tested positive for two weeks ago, resulting in him becoming the first Cup driver indefinitely suspended under a new random drug testing policy. And it has prompted many drivers to publicly ask for a definitive list of can-dos and should-nots.

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Enjoy a look back at Mark Martin's Southern 500 Darlington win from Saturday night from the angle of Sprint Cup Numbers:

1.531 - Martin's margin of victory, in seconds, over teammate Jimmie Johnson

2 - Wins for Martin at Darlington in 43 career starts

3 - Career 'Did Not Finish' results for Martin at Darlington, each of which was for engine problems

For one driver, getting older in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series just means getting better.

50-year-old Mark Martin will drive the full 2010 schedule in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 car, according to the Associated Press. Martin returned to full time competition in 2009 with a two year deal at Hendrick after running partial schedules since 2007, and it was originally expected that 2010 would be another partial schedule for the driver.

While the news may be good for Martin fans, surprise Talladega winner Brad Keselowski is now somewhat on the outside looking in for 2010 if he wants to pursue racing in NASCAR's top division.

Mark Martin's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory last weekend at Phoenix very well may have been the most popular and sentimental win in years.

Not only did the fans in the grandstands voice their thundering approval but numerous drivers and car owners ducked into Victory Lane to congratulate Mark on his accomplishment. Greg Biffle articulated it best when he said, in summary, that he couldn't think of anyone else, besides himself, he'd rather see in Victory Lane. The feeling of virtually every driver in the garage is that if they can't pull their car into Victory Lane, they're happy to see Mark do so. He has that much respect because he races everyone clean and is as intense as they come.

Here's a glance at Mark Martin's first victory since 2005 Saturday night at Phoenix International Raceway as FanHouse takes you by the Sprint Cup Numbers:


.005 - Amount of elapsed time Kyle Busch exceeded NASCAR's pit road speed limit by on the final pit stop. The penalty took him from Martin's bumper as the nearest challenger to the back of the pack.

.734 - Seconds Martin finished ahead of second-place Tony Stewart

2.135 - Martin's average running position Saturday night, best of all drivers.

It took 97 races, nearly four years and lot of decision-making but 50-year-old Mark Martin is back in NASCAR Sprint Cup victory lane.

Martin led the most laps of the Subway Fresh Fit 500k -- he also started from the pole position -- to win Saturday night's 312-miler at Phoenix International Raceway during his first season back as a full-time driver with Hendrick Motorsports.

Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle rounded out Top-5 of the afternoon-to-evening event.

Where: Phoenix Int'l Raceway
Time: Saturday 8:46 p.m./EDT
TV/Radio: FOX Sports, MRN Radio
Forecast: Clear, Lows in the 50s
Distance: 312 laps (312 miles, 500k)
Pole Winner: Mark Martin
2008 Winner: Jimmie Johnson


Mark Martin has gotten awful good at starting Sprint Cup races from the front in 2009 in his new Hendrick Motorsports ride, but its the whole finishing part that hasn't gone as planned.